Johnson invites Pope Leo to Chicago, gifts him local gear and more | See the full list

CHICAGO - Mayor Brandon Johnson is presenting Pope Leo XIV with a wide-ranging collection of Chicago-themed gifts during a Vatican visit this week, blending sports memorabilia, local food, religious items and messages centered on immigration, labor and civil rights.

Chicago mayor's Vatican visit with Pope Leo

What to know:

According to the mayor’s office, Johnson on Thursday personally gave Leo a Key to the City of Chicago and invited the pope to return to Chicago to celebrate Mass in Grant Park.

In a letter that Johnson handed to the pontiff, the mayor recalled Pope John Paul II’s visit to Chicago and Mass in Grant Park on Oct. 5, 1979, "forever remembered as the most spiritually inspiring day in Chicago history."

"Your Holiness, you were a young priest-in-training at the time. Perhaps you were there. Perhaps you would consider a repeat Papal visit nearly 50 years later to share your own message of hope, unity and service,’’ Johnson wrote.

Johnson, who grew up the son of a pastor, invited the pope to say Mass in Grant Park in 2027, noting that Chicago is home to one of the largest Catholic populations in the United States.

It’s at least the second official invitation that Leo has received to visit the United States. U.S. Vice President JD Vance invited Leo soon after he became pope last May.

The Chicago delegation’s gifts to Leo reflected many parts of the city's civic and cultural life, from professional sports teams to faith communities and local businesses.

Among the items presented were a Chicago White Sox hat featuring the Italian flag and giardiniera from Italian sandwich shop JP Graziano.

The Cubs organization contributed a Pope Leo Cubs jersey and two Cubs hats. The Chicago Sky provided a hat and jersey. DePaul University and Loyola University each sent hats as part of the offerings.

Other city-themed gifts included a Chicago flag, a ceremonial Chicago street sign, a Chicago tote bag, and a brass tray featuring Chicago lakefront etchings. World Business Chicago also contributed a tote bag.

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events donated honey harvested from the roof of the Chicago Cultural Center.

The mayor’s office said the delegation also included several items tied to Chicago’s immigrant and faith communities. Those included:

• Letters from families of detained immigrants
• A Southwest Community ICE Watch pin
• A sanctuary city pin
• An Immigrants Make America Greater hat from the Chicago Sister Cities International program
• Letters from parishioners at St. Benedict the African Church in Englewood, including notes from a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old expressing gratitude for the pope’s leadership

The delegation also delivered several books and religious-themed items, including:

• "Bloodworks" by Bishop Horace Smith, MD
• "Operation Breadbasket: An Untold Story of Civil Rights in Chicago" by Martin L. Deppe
• "Keeping Hope Alive: Sermons and Speeches of Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr." edited by Grace Ji-Sun Kim
• "Cornerstones" and a stained-glass poster from the M.A.A.F.A. Redemption Project Church and Rev. Dr. Marshall E. Hatch Sr.
• "The Legacies of Sr. Madeleva Wolff, CSC" edited by Jessica Coblentz and Susan Mancino

The gifts also included apparel and cultural items such as:

• Two "Everything dope including the pope comes from Chicago" T-shirts from Chicago historian Sherman "Dilla" Thomas
• A "God Bless the Westside" T-shirt from Ald. Jason Ervin
• An "I Am Somebody" and "Keep Hope Alive" sweatshirts from Rainbow PUSH Coalition
• Resisting tyrants since pharaoh and White Sox kippah and White Sox pope t-shirt from Mishkan Chicago

The pope also received a silver dove necklace representing peace, a union strike pin in a silver box, Frango Mints from Catholic Charities and a model airplane from United Airlines.

Johnson’s delegation also presented Leo with copies of diplomas earned by the pope’s parents from DePaul University.

What they're saying:

"I’m just elated that the Pope is from Chicago," Johnson said in a previous statement.

"I think we’re going to talk about the values we share — protecting voting rights, protecting immigrant rights, and protecting workers’ rights. He’s been very clear and consistent on those issues, and I’m looking forward to that conversation."

The meeting marks another high-profile visit between Illinois leaders and the Chicago-born pope, who became the first American to lead the Catholic Church after his election in May 2025.

Johnson’s visit comes about six months after Gov. JB Pritzker and first lady MK Pritzker met Leo at the Vatican in November 2025.

"It was an honor for MK and me to meet with Pope Leo XIV – a son of Illinois – to express the pride and reverence of the people of this great state," Pritzker wrote in a social media post at the time. "Pope Leo XIV’s message of hope, compassion, unity, and peace resonates with Illinoisans of all faiths and traditions."

The backstory:

Pope Leo XIV was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood and raised in south suburban Dolton.

He graduated from Villanova University in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics before entering religious life and later studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Prevost spent years serving with the Augustinian mission in Peru, including work in Chulucanas and Trujillo, where he led an Augustinian seminary and taught canon law.

He later returned to Chicago and, in 1999, was elected provincial prior of the Augustinians’ "Mother of Good Counsel" province.

Before becoming pope, Prevost twice served as prior general of the Augustinians, the worldwide religious order founded by St. Augustine. Pope Francis later appointed him apostolic administrator of Chiclayo in 2014, where he was later named bishop.